SEATTLE: Billionaire benefactors Bill and Melinda Gates, co-founders of one of the leading private charitable foundations, Monday announced to end 27 years of marriage but pledged to pursue their philanthropic work together.
The couple which is in the global limelight today ended the long marriage to irreconcilable differences. They don’t think that they can grow together. ‘After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage’, one of the world’s richest couples with a fortune of $130billion tweeted Monday.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 3, 2021
The Gates Foundation, their leading philanthropy foundation, also released a separate statement in this regard. The couple would remain as co-chairs and trustees of the organization and will pursue work together to shape and approve foundation strategies, advocate for the foundation’s issues, and set the organization’s overall direction,” the statement added.
The divorce documents leaked in the International media stated that Melinda mentioned that her marriage to Bill is irretrievably broken. The divorce filed in King County, Washington stated that the spousal support is not needed” and a different contract, which will not be public, will decide on property divisions.
Melinda said she found Bill – methodical it seems even in matters of the heart – writing a list on a whiteboard with the “pros and the cons of getting married”.
56-year-old Melinda joined tech giant Microsoft in the year 1987. She was hired as a product manager. Following the joining of Melinda, they started dating. The former richest man while speaking in a private documentary mentioned that they both cared for each other. There have two possibilities at that time. One is to break up while there’s no other option than getting married.
The couple later tied the knot in 1994 on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. As per the reports in international media, the rich tech company owner reportedly hired the local choppers to stop unwanted guests flying over. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has become one of the most powerful and influential forces in global public health, spending more than $50 billion over the past two decades to bring a business approach to combating poverty and disease.
The couple’s daughter Jennifer Gates, 25 also responded to the news of her parents’ split in an Instagram post on Monday.
Apart from the marriage part, the American business magnate started a number of joint ventures with many leading organizations to completely eradicate malaria in parts of the world. The gates foundation has also contributed a lot in polio eradication, child malnutrition, and now ongoing research and development of vaccines. Earlier in December, they also committed a total of $1.75billion to fight the deadly virus.
The Gates Foundation said the couple would remain as co-chairs and trustees of the organization. “They will continue to work together to shape and approve foundation strategies, advocate for the foundation’s issues, and set the organization’s overall direction,” the foundation’s statement said.
According to the latest stats from Forbes magazine, Bill currently holds a net worth of around $124 billion. Among the top 5, he holds the fourth position, after Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Bernald Arnault and family.
Bill’s philanthropy is globally acclaimed as his foundation currently considered as world’s largest private charitable foundation, having amassed an estimated $51 billion in assets
Many of the International news sites reported that after their 25th wedding anniversary, Melinda while speaking with The Sunday Times revealed how Bill struggled to balance work with family.
Earlier in 2019, Amazon owner and current richest man in the world Jeff Bezos, and wife Meckanzei divorced after 25 years of marriage.
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